Chapter 342: Career Guidance

Harry felt as if the heavy stone in his heart had finally landed. He finally had a secret method to deal with Tang Nade, and even if it didn't sound very reliable, it was still better than watching everything happen with his own eyes.

However, when he returned to the dormitory and listened to Luo Nade complain about "that white-haired one," he couldn't help but reflect: If he could cooperate with Ailina, who had hurt Luo Nade, to stop Tang Nade, wouldn't that mean that one day in the future, he would also cooperate with Tang Nade to stop Yanayev?

"Have you guys seen the notice?" Nawei's voice interrupted Harry's thoughts. "We have one-on-one career guidance next week."

Harry and Luo Nade took the pamphlets and notices he handed over, which contained descriptions of various professions.

"I took a look, and we are all scheduled consecutively on Monday afternoon next week," Nawei said. "Do you have any ideal professions?"

"I haven't decided yet," Harry said. "What about you?"

"I want to be an Auror," Nawei said seriously. "The essentials for an Auror are Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions. I'm doing quite well in those."

"Potions?" Luo Nade wore a distressed expression. "It seems I won't be able to be your colleague."

"But you could be his boss," Harry said. "The Head of the Auror Office doesn't need those things; any fool could do it."

"Don't underestimate England," Nawei shook his head. "He was selected as a reserve for the doctoral program, which means he used a Time-Turner when he was young—in other words, he was once as excellent a student as Hermione and Percy."

"Although grades and ability aren't necessarily linked, you absolutely cannot do it without even having the grades." Harry recalled his own performance in those courses and then patted Luo Nade. "You need to review Potions well; I will help you."

"Harry, what are your plans?" Nawei asked Harry again. "Do you want to be an Auror?"

"I have many other things to do," Harry said vaguely. "I'm not sure if I have the time, but if everything could be calm, I would be quite happy to be an Auror."

"By the other things you mentioned, do you mean the Phoenix Society?" Nawei said. "According to current experience, a job more suitable for the leader of the Phoenix Society is Headmaster of Hogwarts."

"The old bat will pass the Headmaster position to a Gryffindor?" Luo Nade showed a look of disdain.

"Perhaps by that time, it won't be up to him to decide." Harry thought of the Ministry of Magic, which was becoming increasingly present. "By then, the Headmaster might become a position appointed by the Ministry of Magic."

The Ministry of Magic was trying to intervene in every aspect of Hogwarts bit by bit, a fact that students were gradually realizing. And the most intuitive manifestation was that on the afternoon of their career guidance, Harry discovered that Anuo De was also there.

"Sit down, Potter," Professor Maige said in a light tone. "This interview is to discuss your thoughts on your career, to help you decide which subjects you should continue to study in your sixth and seventh years."

"Uh—" Harry stammered, his gaze glancing unnaturally at Anuo De, who was sitting in the corner.

"Are you considering a career in politics?" Anuo De adjusted his glasses and interjected. "Entering the Ministry of Magic to work, with your current reputation and resources, perhaps you could become the Minister for Magic in less than thirty years."

Maige glanced at him, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

"Based on the courses you like, I can recommend different starting points for you. Perhaps you would want to be an Auror, but that requires at least five NEWT certificates of 'Exceeds Expectations' or higher. In addition, it requires undergoing a series of strict personality and aptitude tests, although we have relaxed the testing phase now," Anuo De said. "In the past three years, only Kelaisite has joined the job."

Professor Maige nodded slightly, and she revealed an encouraging smile.

"Or, I noticed that you took Muggle Studies, and you have educational experience in Muggle society," Anuo De pointed at his writing board with a pen. "You could choose to go to the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. With Arthur's precedent, it shouldn't be difficult for you to be promoted to Department Head from this position in the future."

Professor Maige coughed lightly, and Anuo De immediately changed the subject.

"Of course, if you still want to work in the field, you could also choose to be a Memory Modifier. This position doesn't require dealing with Dark Magic like an Auror, so there is no vetting. Moreover, Memory Modifiers have many opportunities to be seconded to the Department of Mysteries, where you can fully display your talents."

"Perhaps..." Harry said hesitantly, "I haven't decided whether to enter the Ministry of Magic?"

"Then do you want to be Headmaster?" Anuo De turned to Maige. "What are the standards for Hogwarts to hire professors again?"

"Only need to have an outstanding level in a certain aspect, and then the Headmaster agrees," Professor Maige answered subconsciously. "But, Harry, do you really want to stay and teach?"

"I haven't decided either," Harry admitted his confusion somewhat embarrassedly.

"Then are you planning to go to Gringotts or St. Mungo's Hospital or something? I think that's a waste of your talent," Anuo De looked a bit confused. "Or have you decided to be a freelancer?"

"As far as I know, Fred and George opened a retail store," Maige said slowly. "For them, that counts as a pretty good job. Would you like that, Harry?"

"That's not as good as being unemployed," Anuo De shook his head. "At least the latter has the chance to become a Dark Lord."

Perhaps noticing that Harry's face was becoming unpleasant, Professor Maige smoothed things over. "It doesn't matter. If you haven't decided, Harry, you can think about it carefully. I can talk to you alone again at the end of the term."

This conversation ended anticlimactically. Harry could tell that Anuo De very much hoped he would enter the Ministry of Magic to work, while Maige looked unconcerned. Indeed, for Harry now, he could freely choose any profession, but Anuo De perhaps thought he needed to become the Minister for Magic, which was to legitimize the act of "managing the British Wizarding World."

When Harry left the office, he bumped into Sineipu head-on.

"I've been waiting for you here, Potter," Sineipu said in a low voice. "We need to talk about the Potions remedial lessons."

Harry's heart tightened instantly. He followed Sineipu without a word, but Sineipu didn't go to the Potions classroom; instead, he led him to the Headmaster's office.

"You didn't go to last week's meeting," Sineipu said slowly. "So you don't know that some very strange things happened at the meeting."

"What things?"

"William attended the meeting, and he seems to want to intervene in the Dark Lord election," Sineipu looked into Harry's eyes. "He proposed leaking the time and location of the election to the Phoenix Society. He said the Dark Lord needs to establish authority."

"Establish authority?"

"That's right. We previously thought the White House didn't care about the Dark Lord, but we were wrong. They partially support the Dark Lord. William's meaning is that we should directly choose the strongest person to be the Dark Lord. If we insist on using Nagini, then we must also think of a way to make the person chosen look strong enough."

"Yes, the Dark Lord must indeed have considerable strength," Harry agreed. "But the reason we use Nagini—I mean the public reason—is the worry that Voldemort will be dissatisfied with the new Dark Lord after he is resurrected. William couldn't refute this point either."

"Using Nagini to choose the new Dark Lord also indeed reinforced the lie that 'Voldemort might return at any time,'" Snape raised his eyebrows. "Then if we want to refute and deny his so-called 'establish authority' proposal, the new Dark Lord must be someone like Delphini who has mediocre strength but is of great significance to the Dark Lord."

"Then we can still use the previous plan," Harry said.

"Yes, but with your current progress in Occlumency, I'm afraid I won't be able to safely take you to William until next year," Sineipu said coldly. "He doesn't have much level, but the White House has plenty of experts."

"Uh, I will work hard," Harry could only lower his head embarrassedly at this moment.

"We will also have extra practice on Friday nights from now on," Sineipu said in an unquestionable tone. "You need to appear before the Death Eaters before June."

"O... kay," Harry agreed reluctantly. He indeed had nothing else to do on Friday nights.

"And, how is your level of Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Sineipu narrowed his eyes. "What action do you think Bella would take if she discovered that Saruman really exists? Especially since she still has a group of Saints in her hands now."

Harry couldn't help but feel a little scared. Although his own battle record was quite good, if one scrutinized the level, perhaps it was still not as good as Luo Nade's.

"You need to know the seriousness of the situation," Snape said. "William's intervention means that if you don't become the Dark Lord, then there is a high probability that this position will be given to Delphini."

"I..." Harry's mouth twitched. He didn't dare to guarantee that he would definitely succeed.

"Actually, just do your best," Snape said a rare gentle sentence. "Even if Delphini becomes the Dark Lord, it won't have any devastating impact on the situation. It's just a pity that we made so many plans only to hand it over to someone else in the end."

When Harry returned to the dormitory and Luo Nade asked him how the career guidance went, Harry sighed.

"Maige didn't say anything, but Sineipu told me very clearly that if I want to be the Dark Lord, I need to get a grade of 'Exceeds Expectations' or higher in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Besides NEWT grades, I also need to demonstrate good reaction ability in terms of bearing pressure, as well as being proficient in Parseltongue. These are all fine, it's just that I have to additionally study Occlumency and advanced Dark Magic, and Sineipu is very happy to provide remedial lessons for me on these two points..." ===== CHAPTER 343 =====